Praise belongs to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds, and peace and blessings be upon our master Muhammad

Muhammad ibn al-Hasan ash-Shaybani 
 
 
His 
kunya
was Abu ‘Abdullah. He was a client. He was born in 132 and died in 189 AH. He was only 
about eighteen years old when Abu Hanifa died and had not been with him for a long time, but nonetheless he 
compiled a more complete study of the 
fiqh
of Iraq than Abu Yusuf. He took from ath-Thawri and al-Awza‘i, 
and travelled to Malik and learned the 
fiqh
of 
hadith
, transmissions and the opinions of Malik, after having 
learned 
fiqh
of opinion from the Iraqis. He stayed with Malik for three years. He was appointed a 
qadi
under 
ar-Rashid but was never Chief 
Qadi
. He had great skill in letters and so he had both linguistic training and 
analytic perception. He was concerned with his appearance so that ash-Shafi‘i said about him, “Muhammad 
ibn al-Hasan fills both the eye and the heart.” He also mentioned his great eloquence. 
Muhammad ibn al-Hasan achieved what no other companion of Abu Hanifa did, except Abu Yusuf – he 
learned the 
fiqh
of Iraq completely and then was appointed 
qadi
. He studied with Abu Yusuf and then, as we 
have mentioned, he also learned the 
fiqh
of the Hijaz from Malik and the 
fiqh
of Syria from the shaykh of 
Syria, al-Awza‘i. He also had skill in calculating the distribution of inheritance. He was inclined to record 
things and he is truly considered to be the transmitter of the 
fiqh
of the Iraqis to posterity. As we mentioned, 
not only did he transmit the 
fiqh
of Iraq, but he also transmitted the 
Muwatta’
of Malik. 
Ash-Shaybani’s position among the Iraqis came from him being a leading 
mujtahid
who had valuable legal 
opinions. He did not relate 
fiqh
directly from Abu Hanifa but by way of Abu Yusuf and others. He mentions 
his transmission from Abu Yusuf. Indeed, the entirety of 
al-Jami‘ as-Saghir
is transmitted from Abu Yusuf. 
The one book which he did not review with Abu Yusuf was 
al-Jami‘ al-Kabir
. 
The books of ash-Shaybani form the primary source for Abu Hanifa’s 
fiqh,
whether it be what he transmits 
from Abu Yusuf or what he records of the 
fiqh
known in Iraq. Not all of ash-Shaybani’s books possess the 
same degree of reliability. Scholars divide them in two. Some are clear in transmission, like 
al-Mabsut,
az-
Ziyadat
, 
al-Jami‘ as-Saghir
, as
-Siyar as-Saghir
, 
as-Siyar al-Kabir
and 
al-Jami‘ al-Kabir
. The ascription of 
others is not as certain. The first group are the bedrock of the transmission of Hanafi 
fiqh
. 
Al-Mabsut
or 
al-Asl, 
as it is sometimes known, is the longest of his books in which he collected questions 
on matters which Abu Hanifa gave 
fatwa
. It contains the differences between Abu Yusuf and ash-Shaybani, 
when there were any, and matters on which there was no disagreement. Each chapter begins with the 
traditions they considered sound regarding the topic concerned and then various questions and their answers. 
It reports Iraqi 
fiqh
, but not the legal reasoning behind it. 
Al-Jami‘ as-Saghir
contains things which ash-Shaybani related from Abu Yusuf, as is mentioned at the 
beginning of every chapter. Some sources state that it is the only thing which he transmitted directly from Abu 
Yusuf. It is arranged according to legal topics. 
In the case of 
al-Jami‘ al-Kabir
, scholars agree that it did not come from Abu Yusuf, although he knew 
what it contained and many of the conclusions must have been transmitted from him. It, like 
as-Saghir
, lacks 
legal deduction and there is no evidence for the conclusions reached, although a reader may discern it by 
reading between the lines.
He has other books as well that clarify various rulings which reflect Iraqi 
fiqh
and frequently illustrate the 
difference between Iraqi 
fiqh
and Madinan 
fiqh
. His books also include transmission of 
hadiths
and later 
traditions which were transmitted by Abu Hanifa and the people of Iraq and which were used as sources by 
later Hanafi scholars. 

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